Harvard grads come to Kansas to film Old West thriller

Jan Biles

Sunday

Jun 30, 2013 at 1:06 PM

A pair of Los Angeles-based independent filmmakers are in Kansas scouting locations and making final plans for "The Bender Claim," a movie they will be filming about the notorious Bender family of southeast Kansas.

"It's a Hitchcock-like psychological thriller set in the Old West," said John Alexander, the film's director. "It's eerie, moody, suspenseful, tense and very quiet."

Alexander, 24, of Los Angeles, and JC Guest, 24, of Asheville, N.C., said they met during their freshman year at Harvard University. Alexander was majoring in linguistics, and Guest was seeking English and art degrees.

Eventually, they decided they wanted to make a film based on a true legend of the western frontier.

"We came across the Benders," Alexander said. "(The story) was so chilling, it gave me goosebumps. It's an unsolved mystery of the West, and it has not been shared with a worldwide audience."

The Bender family, who owned an inn and general store in Labette County from 1871 to 1873, killed about a dozen travelers and buried them in their apple orchard before their crimes were discovered and they fled. What happened to the family after that is unknown.

Alexander and Guest, the film's producer, will be shooting the movie July 10 through Aug. 11 at locations in Junction City, El Dorado and Wichita. The production will have a seven-person crew and a cast comprised of Hollywood veterans and local professionals.

Alexander and Guest began writing the script in 2009-10, while juggling their sophomore-year studies at Harvard.

"We wrote a ton of drafts," Alexander said.

After their graduations in 2011 and move to Los Angeles, Alexander worked on a movie called "Running Wild" while Guest worked at the Venice Art Market. Eventually, they decided to "bite the bullet" and move forward on the Bender film.

Last June, they traveled to Junction City to meet with Rick Dykstra, assistant director of Geary County Convention and Visitors Bureau, and scout locations for the film.

"One thing we were seeking when we came out to Kansas was prairie, places where you still see vistas," Guest said. "We try to avoid power lines and windmills and oil rigs."

The film, which will have an original score, is expected to be completed next year. Alexander and Guest said they will be entering the film in international film festivals, including the Tallgrass Film Festival in Kansas.

Peter Jasso, director of the Kansas Department of Commerce's Creative Arts Industries Commission, said about 100 film projects are produced in Kansas each year. Most of those projects involve the making of commercial or corporate films, independent shorts or features, web series, television documentaries and TV reality-variety shows.

"Most are locally generated," Jasso said.

Among the films recently made in Kansas are "Jayhawkers," a movie by Lawrence filmmaker Kevin Willmott about University of Kansas basketball legend Wilt Chamberlain and coach Phog Allen; "Kick Me," an action-comedy from Kansas City filmmaker Gary Huggins about the violent indignities that befall a high school guidance counselor who reaches out to a troubled teen; and "Nailbiter," a horror film by Nebraska filmmaker Patrick Rea.

Jasso said the Kansas Film Commission was absorbed by the CAIC when it was created in July 2012. Jasso previously was the head of the film commission.

Additionally, he said, any tax credits, rebates and other incentives designed to attract Hollywood filmmakers and cable and network television producers to Kansas ended at the end of December.

"(The CAIC's) priority is assisting projects and encouraging the local film industry," he said, explaining the lack of incentives hinders the recruitment of major studio films and made-for-TV movies.

Jasso said independent filmmakers like Alexander and Guest continue to be drawn to Kansas because of its low business costs, possible film locations, experienced crews and actors, film production facilities and residents' hospitality and cooperation.

Alexander and Guest agree.

"In addition to the reception and support for the project, the locations, the landscape and the historic buildings — we had no choice but to film here," Guest said.

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